and that goalkeepers can now do whatever they like when a penalty is being taken.
I commented on a crazy decision in South America last month and on Saturday Chris Foy reinforced that view when he actively rejected his assistant's advice that Man City's Kaspar Schmeichel was off his line when a 65th minute penalty was taken by Arsenal's Robin van Persie.
Schmeichel. a most impressive son-of for his age, was clearly a yard off his line when van Persie shot and he saved the ball with his legs. The assistant, standing on the goal-line, put his flag in the air and then put it across his chest, the universal signal among referees for a penalty. Foy ignored the assistant completely and waved for play to continue.
I cannot remember when I last saw a penalty retaken for a goalkeeper being off his line.
Clearly no referee wants penalties to be retaken. Tension rises and it's a recipe for trouble to flare up. But if the goalkeeper is breaking a law of the game, then the referee should penalise him.
It seems clear that senior referees have had the word not to penalise this offence. Perhaps the folk who run the game need to be told that there's a process for changing the laws and that football is not a masonic lodge for them to play around in.
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